Portland and the District Council of Trade Unions, the labor group representing more than 1,600 city workers, are at an impasse after
spending the past 11 months trying to negotiate a new contract agreement.

DCTU represents a wide swath of city workers, including housing
inspectors, park maintenance staff, lower-level administrative workers across
city bureaus and street cleaning and maintenance workers.

The primary concern for DCTU members is the city's stance on contracting out services that would otherwise belong to union workers. "It's really about contracting out for us," Megan Hise, DCTU spokeswoman, said. "We would settle if we could."

All other aspects of the contract, Hise said, the city and DCTU are pretty close to finding a deal, although they haven't settled on final cost of living adjustments for the four-year contract period.

DCTU is asking that the city add back language to the contract which shows Portland saves money by contracting out specific services. Hise said that language helps protect city workers and saves taxpayer money, "by requiring the city to show cost saving we can make sure it makes sense financially," she said.

Rob Wheaton, chief negotiator for DCTU, called its omission "appalling."

"They do not check to see if it's going to save the city money," Wheaton said.

Both parties have until Jan. 13 to submit final contract
proposals and expected costs of the proposals.

When asked if the city wanted to respond to DCTU's statements, Rhys said "not at this time."

The city and DCTU were attempting to negotiate a new four-year
contract. After the sides submit final proposals, the city and union will enter a 30 day cooling off period. The city could then move forward with the proposed contract or DCTU workers could strike.